Re: Intro

["Kathrynne Holden, MS,RD" <fivestar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Rayna,

> dose of sinemet only because my husband insisted.  Doctor told him to make
> sure he didn't eat anything with lecithin in it -- and now I hear Phil talk
> about a low protein diet enabling the sinemet to work better.


As your husband has so recently been diagnosed with PD, and has just
begun Sinemet, protein may not be a large factor at this time.

In fact many neurologists encourage PWP to begin Sinemet treatment by
taking the Sinement WITH meals, to decrease nausea; then, when the
system has adjusted to Sinemet, to take it 30 minutes prior to meals.

Later, if motor fluctuations become a problem, protein adjustment in
some form may be needed.

With regard to lecithin, I'd be very interested to hear your physician's
rationale for this. In the 80's there were some studies with lecithin,
to see if it would improve cognitive impairment in PD, but there are no
new studies to this effect that I'm aware of. Lecithin (phosphatidyl
serine) is not a protein, but does contain an amino acid, serine;
however, it is not one of the large neutral aminos that compete with
levodopa for absorption. So there must be another reason for limiting
lecithin, and I would be most interested to know what it is. If you
could find that out, please let me know.

Thanks,
Kathrynne

--
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
"Nutrition you can live with!"
Medical nutrition therapy

Tel: 970-493-6532 // Fax: 970-493-6538
"If we knew what it was we were doing,
it would not be called research,
would it?" -Albert Einstein